Ryder
03-06-2009, 05:07 AM
He drives with just two fingers and a thumb from each hand touching the wheel, like a museum curator handling a priceless document. Such a delicate grip, I think, for such a muscular car. He's wearing a suit too, an example of Japanese politeness he assures, and not normal test driver wear. And despite his diminutive stature, he sits far from the wheel, his wiry, impish frame stretched over the controls making smooth, steady inputs. But we're shifting. Really shifting. Hiroyoshi Kato knows this road, knows this car. He should do,
he developed it here, bench marked it against the Porsche Cayman.
The 'it' in question is the new 370Z, successor to the greatest near affordable coupe of the last ten years, the 350Z. The new car's development has been in safe hands. Kato-san loves Nissan (he's been here 30 years), loves cars (he's got an old Skyline in the garage at home), and he loves his job (he's logged thousands of laps at the Niirburgring, works only on Nissari's rear-drive product and his business card says he's Nissan's 'Technical Meister'). But I didn't come halfway around the world to experience the 370Z from the passenger seat, even when it's being piloted by sortJeone this handy. I want to put on my best Clouse au voice and yell 'Not now Kato!' but instead I just tell him to budge over and give me a go.Shutfle the seat, check the mirrors, grab a gear and go. No, wait, there's something else.
There's a button on the 3702's centre console, an innocuous-looking button, but one that will transform even the most ham-fisted driver into a wheel man of Lewis Hamilton's magnitude with one little push. It switches on the Nissan's Rev Synchro Control function, a simple but at the same time brilliant bit of kit that blips the engine when a sensor in the base of the gearstick detects an imminent downshift, making sure that the next gear slips home smoothly, and with a roar of V 6 that ensures everyone within earshot thinks you're a proper Nureyev with the pedals.
Though the tweedier among you might heel-and-toe religiously on the road, it's only really necessary on a racetrack - when engaging the clutch without the gear speeds synchronised could send you spinning off into the
Armco. But in a car like the Nissan Z, which demands far more attention than a Focus to elicit smooth urban performance, rev-matching can really make for a slicker driving experience.
1893
Trouble is, not everyone knows howlcan be bothered to do it. So Rev Synchro Control is a gimmick, but it's also useful and fun. But if it's gadgety tech you're after, that's your lot. There is no four-wheel drive, no four-wheel steer, no electronically controlled differentials, no self-steering, nor auto-braking on this car. It still doesn't even have a luggage bay cover. The 370Z'S just not that sort of car. Not that it's crude, it's just that it's a traditional sports car, just as its 350Z predecessor was.
Though at a glance the two cars might look very similar, the new car sits on a IOomm shorter wheelbase and wraps its mechanicals in far more muscular bodywork characterised by the sexy kick-up in the waistline after the doors and voluptuous rear arches containing a wider trackThe extra 20 units in the name badge glued to the rear end refer to the 200CC advantage this car's V6 shares over the 350's. It's the same unit that's fitted to the Infiniti coupes and saloons that will launch in the UK in February, and it kicks out 33Ibhp and 40INm. The platform too, an evolution of the old car's, is shared with those posh Nissans, but while they offer seating for four, the Z is again fun for two only.
A six-speed manual is standard and, in keeping with the retro- bruiser personality, there's no dual-clutch paddleshift alternative. But there is a full auto with seven speeds. And, unlike the 350Z auto, this one will be coming to the UK.
Don't go thinking that the Z's done a 280ZX on us and gone all soft though. Despite catering to more stringent crash standards that should have added IOokg to the kerbweight, the new Z weighs exactly the same 1480kg as the old car thanks to aluminium being used for the bootlid, bonnet and doors. It's a substantially stiffer shell than the old one, which Nissan's engineers admit was rather wobbly, hence the boot-mounted brace that killed luggage space. The new car's shell is strong enough to allow that brace to be moved behind the seats.
he developed it here, bench marked it against the Porsche Cayman.
The 'it' in question is the new 370Z, successor to the greatest near affordable coupe of the last ten years, the 350Z. The new car's development has been in safe hands. Kato-san loves Nissan (he's been here 30 years), loves cars (he's got an old Skyline in the garage at home), and he loves his job (he's logged thousands of laps at the Niirburgring, works only on Nissari's rear-drive product and his business card says he's Nissan's 'Technical Meister'). But I didn't come halfway around the world to experience the 370Z from the passenger seat, even when it's being piloted by sortJeone this handy. I want to put on my best Clouse au voice and yell 'Not now Kato!' but instead I just tell him to budge over and give me a go.Shutfle the seat, check the mirrors, grab a gear and go. No, wait, there's something else.
There's a button on the 3702's centre console, an innocuous-looking button, but one that will transform even the most ham-fisted driver into a wheel man of Lewis Hamilton's magnitude with one little push. It switches on the Nissan's Rev Synchro Control function, a simple but at the same time brilliant bit of kit that blips the engine when a sensor in the base of the gearstick detects an imminent downshift, making sure that the next gear slips home smoothly, and with a roar of V 6 that ensures everyone within earshot thinks you're a proper Nureyev with the pedals.
Though the tweedier among you might heel-and-toe religiously on the road, it's only really necessary on a racetrack - when engaging the clutch without the gear speeds synchronised could send you spinning off into the
Armco. But in a car like the Nissan Z, which demands far more attention than a Focus to elicit smooth urban performance, rev-matching can really make for a slicker driving experience.
1893
Trouble is, not everyone knows howlcan be bothered to do it. So Rev Synchro Control is a gimmick, but it's also useful and fun. But if it's gadgety tech you're after, that's your lot. There is no four-wheel drive, no four-wheel steer, no electronically controlled differentials, no self-steering, nor auto-braking on this car. It still doesn't even have a luggage bay cover. The 370Z'S just not that sort of car. Not that it's crude, it's just that it's a traditional sports car, just as its 350Z predecessor was.
Though at a glance the two cars might look very similar, the new car sits on a IOomm shorter wheelbase and wraps its mechanicals in far more muscular bodywork characterised by the sexy kick-up in the waistline after the doors and voluptuous rear arches containing a wider trackThe extra 20 units in the name badge glued to the rear end refer to the 200CC advantage this car's V6 shares over the 350's. It's the same unit that's fitted to the Infiniti coupes and saloons that will launch in the UK in February, and it kicks out 33Ibhp and 40INm. The platform too, an evolution of the old car's, is shared with those posh Nissans, but while they offer seating for four, the Z is again fun for two only.
A six-speed manual is standard and, in keeping with the retro- bruiser personality, there's no dual-clutch paddleshift alternative. But there is a full auto with seven speeds. And, unlike the 350Z auto, this one will be coming to the UK.
Don't go thinking that the Z's done a 280ZX on us and gone all soft though. Despite catering to more stringent crash standards that should have added IOokg to the kerbweight, the new Z weighs exactly the same 1480kg as the old car thanks to aluminium being used for the bootlid, bonnet and doors. It's a substantially stiffer shell than the old one, which Nissan's engineers admit was rather wobbly, hence the boot-mounted brace that killed luggage space. The new car's shell is strong enough to allow that brace to be moved behind the seats.